(Honolulu, Hawaiʻi) — Recently, the Mike Curb Family Foundation made a gift of $250,000 through the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation (UHF) to support the transformation of Honolulu Community College’s existing classrooms into state-of-the-art professional recording studios for the Music and Entertainment Learning Experience (MELE) program. In recognition of their gift, Honolulu Community College (HCC) will rename the MELE studios and classrooms the "Mike Curb Music and Entertainment Learning Experience Studios" (Curb MELE Studios).
In 2007, Honolulu Community College (HCC) established a partnership with Belmont University’s Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business to create a new program, Music and Entertainment Learning Experience (MELE), to foster and promote the business and profession of music in Hawaiʻi.
"We are excited about the academic affiliation between the University of Hawaiʻi, Honolulu Community College and the Curb College at Belmont University in Nashville. We are proud to be able to participate in the development of these new studios as a laboratory for the students and further development of the MELE Program." said Mike Curb.
"Because of our local music industry’s value to Hawaiʻi and the critical need to develop the production and business skills of talented, local musicians, we were happy at the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation to introduce the Curb Family Foundation to HCC’s MELE program," said UHF President and CEO Donna Vuchinich.
MELE students develop artistic creativity, technical production skills, and entertainment business expertise. As part of the MELE Program, through matriculation to Belmont’s Curb College in Nashville, Tennessee, MELE students can pursue a bachelor's degree in music business, audio engineering, entertainment industry studies, or songwriting, accessing such Belmont alumni as Josh Turner, Brad Paisley and songwriter Ashley Gorley.
"MELE is an innovative program that brings state-of-the-art music industry crafts and skills to Hawaiʻi to enrich creativity and generate music with local roots, produced at a high level of professional skill, and capable of earning a place in the global 21st-century music business," said Honolulu Community College Chancellor Michael T. Rota.
The vision for MELE came from noted author and Hawaiʻi historian, Gavan Daws, and Jim Ed Norman, former head of Warner Bros. Records in Nashville and current Big Island resident. Together they worked with then-Chancellor Ramsey Pedersen of Honolulu CC and MELE Program Director Keala Chock to form a partnership with the Mike Curb College of Entertainment & Music Business at Belmont University.
Launched with funds from a federal grant, a program start-up budget from the Hawaiʻi State Legislature, and a grant from the State of Hawaiʻi Department of Business, Economic Development & Tourism, the MELE program began in Fall 2007. In Spring 2008, the UH Board of Regents approved two associate degree programs: Music Business Emphasis and Audio Engineering Technology at Honolulu Community College. For more information, go to http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/mele.
"We have a lot of raw musical talent in Hawaiʻi, and the MELE program will help develop the infrastructure needed to support entertainers and musicians in their careers," said Chock. "MELE aims to bring best practices here, for the benefit of the local music industry overall, and to help generate high-quality music with a Hawaiʻi ‘brand’ that can build a presence in the global music business."
# # #
The University of Hawaiʻi Foundation, a nonprofit organization, raises private funds to support the University of Hawaiʻi System. The mission of the University of Hawaiʻi Foundation is to unite donors' passions with the University of Hawaiʻi’s aspirations by raising philanthropic support and managing private investments to benefit UH, the people of Hawaiʻi and our future generations www.uhfoundation.org.
